BaxterStorey displaces CH&Co with £2.6m deal at T-Mobile

BaxterStorey was last week awarded a contract worth £2.6m with telecommunications network T-Mobile, ahead of long-term incumbent caterers CH&Co.

The 12-month deal will start on 5 July, four days after the official merger of T-Mobile and rival phone network Orange, which recently awarded its catering contract to French rival Elior.

The quick turnaround from contract award to start date - and the one-year deal - has given rise to speculation that the merged mobile phone businesses will ultimately look to source their catering from a single supplier in 12 months' time.

Rick Holroyd, managing director at BaxterStorey, said the company would be mindful of this possibility. "I think one of the reasons for the one-year contract is to give time for the merger to settle and for them to decide what they want to do," he said.

Robyn Jones, chief executive of CH&Co (which won the contract from Lexington in 2005) said the firm would keep in contact with T-Mobile should the contract be retendered in the event of a consolidation of catering suppliers.

The contract sees BaxterStorey provide catering services for around 3,000 staff at two staff restaurants at T-Mobile's head office in Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

In addition, the caterer will manage operations at call centres based in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales; Doxford, near Sunderland; and Greenock in Scotland, servicing about 2,000 staff across the three sites.

According to Holroyd, the contract was secured as a result of BaxterStorey's conviction to delivering a cost-effective offer while retaining quality.

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By Janie Stamford

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